23 Travel Digest, February 2008Where will your career take you? tmsap.com

Puffing Billy crosses trestle bridge after leaving Belgrave Station

My flight arrives very late on a Friday night, five past midnight to be precise. It’s always a strange feeling arriving in a foreign land at dark. Your senses are more alive than ever. The air is hot and heavy; I can smell the

sweet fragrance of Frangipani and taste the salty sea breeze. It seems the whole town of Apia has come out to see the new arrivals into their island. As I walk out of the arrival gate, I scan the crowds of people searching for my pick up. Finally I find my tour guide, Dominic.

My first stop is the Samoan Outrigger Hotel, a budget - mid-range accommodation. The facilities here are fairly basic but more than I need as the thought of sleep draws me towards my room. Apart from the odd disruption upstairs during the night, from a group of rowdy young guests, my sleep is pleasant to say the least. Breakfast is a simple affair, and I familiarise myself with a fellow guest from Germany who tells me the fales here are fabulous.

The weather this morning is not the best. Having Googled the weather in Samoa before I left Auckland, I had already prepared myself for what was described as thunderstorms, but this is not the case at all. A few rain showers here and there never hurt anyone. Besides, the air is still very warm.

Our first stop is the famous Robert Louis Stevenson Museum, a

place of great significance for the Samoan people. After suffering from tuberculosis for most of his life, writer Robert Louis Stevenson spent the last four years of his life here in Apia. His physician believed the climate here to be better for his condition. He built his home Vailima, which overlooks the city, and wrote 13 novels during his time here, most notably Treasure Island. He passed away in 1894 and the locals, who affectionately referred to him as Tusitala (Samoan for story writer), buried him on Mt. Vaea, which overlooks Vailima and the city. The home is now open to visitors as a museum in his honour. For a man who only spent a few years in Samoa, he achieved a great deal and his legend lives on today through the people.

We leave Apia, commencing our tour of the east and south coast. We stop at a few waterfalls along the way, namely Sopoaga Falls, which are by far the biggest I have seen on the island. From the lookout point, there is also a small garden showcasing native flora. Dominic shows me how to crack open a coconut, scrape the inside out and squeeze them through the husk to produce coconut cream. I decide to give it a go myself and find there is quite a technique to perfecting this skill, which he makes look so easy.

Along the coast, there are a few five-star resorts on the beach including Coconuts and Sinalei Reef Resort. Both of which have

Talofa Samoa!More than just tropical islands, Samoa is a very special land

of extraordinary beauty, writes SARAH WEEKS.

Aggie Grey’s Lagoon Beach Resort and Spa